Joint arthroplasty is a well-known surgical procedure by which a diseased and/or damaged natural joint is replaced by a prosthetic joint. For example, in a total knee arthroplasty surgical procedure, a patient's natural knee joint is partially or totally replaced by a prosthetic knee joint. To facilitate the replacement of the natural joint with a prosthetic knee joint, orthopaedic surgeons may use a variety of orthopaedic surgical instruments such as, for example, sensors, controllers, reamers, drill guides, and/or other surgical instruments.
Many orthopaedic surgical instruments are cleaned and sterilized for use in a particular orthopaedic surgical procedure. In a typical cleaning or sterilization process, the instruments may be autoclaved. In such a process, the orthopaedic surgical instruments are placed in sterilization packages or containers for cleaning and sterilization. Other orthopaedic surgical instruments are not cleaned and sterilized before use in a particular orthopaedic surgical procedure. Such non-sterile instruments may be placed in a sealed package or container to prevent contamination of the sterilized surgical instruments or the patient.